Oh Bards, where art thou?

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I hardly see any bards out there on these forums. They are a very fun class to play, and to solo due to their jack-of-all-trades nature.

If you play a Blade well, he is a valiant warrior/mage, able to slip into offensive spin and hack and slash, then deftly slide in a defensive spin to get off a crucial battle spell.

If you play a Skald well, he is a heroic general, able to pop off missile fire then and sing his songs of valor to lead your warriors into battle. A true mastermind with the right summoning spells.

If you play a Jester well, he is a laughing dervish, able to cause chaos and anarchy among your foes. A true Foole, as it were, able to turn the tide of battle with a single strum of the harp.

Please, play a Bard!

 

Huzzah! Another bard lover such as I! I first beat SoA as a Skald, and Haer'Dalis, the tiefling bard is my favorite NPC in the game.

I agree, bards are great jacks-of-all-trades, showing skill in long ranged weapons, and direct combat in the case of the Blade and the Skald. They have a number of spells (better than a F/M or F/T/M) Bards also have great unique abilities, such as bard song, and the harps and other instruments for bards only.

Please, add flavor that is a bard to your party, no party should be without one.

 

I've never beaten the game with a bard myself, but Haer'Dalis is one of my favorite NPCs.

 

Bards are like all other classes.

You know how to use them or you don't. I never understood the spam topics comparing two or more classes.

All classes are good.

Just a lil' side note - bards don't get more spells than mages (single or multi), the rules forbid bards to get spells level 7 or higher.

 

I'm playing a bard named Garrick just to see what the stronghold quest is like

 

Extremist, when I say more spells, I mean bards can memorize slightly more spells of the same levels. both F/Ms and bards can only get up to lvl 6 spells.

 

True, but do bards even get level 6 spells by the end of SoA? Also fighter mages are much better fighters so that leaves the bard with only one advantage, pickpocketing, which I think I can live without . Yes, bards are fun, but they ain't got nothing on fighter/mages.

 

Oh yes, bards get level 6 spells after 1,320,000 xp. Also since they get to high levels and they get there fast their spell casting levels are quite remarkable. This is excellent for Remove or Dispel Magic.

Bard is still not a class I wan't to play.

 

Just to add my few cents. A couple days ago I dug out my BG2 and beat it with a Blade. It is in my opinion none worse thatn the F/M.

Yes, he only gets 2 attacks per round, but you can always use off. spin or improved haste.

A Bard has a big advantage over a F/M: caster's level. I now know what is my favourite wizard spell: Scull Trap. 23d6 magic damage is something.

Another thing: Armor class. What is the lowest you can get with a F/M? Something around -11, -13. With a Blade, I got -24!

Then, Lore. You don't have to memorize those annoying Identify spells.

Like Extremist said, there are no good or bad classes. You just have to know how to use them. I proved to myself that I can beat BG2 solo with a blade - now I wat to do it with a Swashbuckler/Fighter DC.

[This message has been edited by Modjahed (edited January 19, 2002).]

 

I've never used a bard, even Haer'Dalis in my party. I always thought they were a poor man's F/M. But from the above post's I've reconsidered.

I've just rolled the following stat's in BG1 for my bard:
STR 18
DEX 18
CON 18
INT 18
WIS 6
CHA 15

Sure the wisdom sucks, but after the tomes, my wisdom will be 9 when I export to BG2 and will go to 10 after Lum's machine.

Took me about 1/2 hour to roll those stats though.

 

Modjahed: I am soloing a Blade as well. It is great fun!

What spells do you normally use?

I use:

1) Magic Missile
2) Knock
3) Skull Trap
4) Stoneskin
5) Cone of Cold
6) Dunno.. summon Nishruu?

 

IMHO, Bards are more magic-oriented than F/Ms. F/Ms have better fighting bonuses, but don't stack up to the bard's spells when it comes to the spells that get better with levels.
For example:
Chain Lightning:
-Max bard can do: 11d6
-Max wizard can do: 8d6
-Max F/M can do: 6d6

Damage aside, bards would be better at dispel/remove magic, and their spells would last longer that a wizard or F/M.

EDIT: I'm not here to diss F/Ms, they're great classes, I'm just pointing out some advantages over them.

EDIT: kunoere: your bard can have 8 WIS give the bard 16 CON, not 18. The bard hardly gets bonuses with 18.



[This message has been edited by creudzfeldt-jakob (edited January 19, 2002).]

 

to Black Rose:
Here is what I memorized:
1) 4 MM, 1 Prot from Evil
2) Knock, 2 Blur, 2 Mirror Image
3) 3 Scull Trap, 2 Dispel Magic
4) 3 StoneSkin, 1 Improved Invis, 1 Minor Seq
5) 3 Animate Dead, 2 Spell Immunity
6) Prot from Magic Energy (GREAT!), 2 Death Spel, 2 Improved Haste

Have fun!

 

@Mojahed (sorry if I spelled your name wrong)

What do you place in your minor sequencer?

 

MM x 2

 

Thanks, Modjahed. Sorry that I spelled your name wrong.

 

Remember a bard's casting level is one level lower than his actual level, since they start getting spells at level 2, not 1. So it wouldn't be 23d8 I'd be 22d8 .

Also, a Bard's THACO is not comparible to a fighter/mage's at all.

[This message has been edited by Lord Sarevok (edited January 21, 2002).]

 

Oh.

When the spell description says x/level, I thought it was the level of the character, not the casting level.

Thanks for clearing that up.

[This message has been edited by creudzfeldt-jakob (edited January 21, 2002).]